All aspects of Medicare -- the history, the current status and suggested reforms -- have been thoroughly politicized. Almost every statement about Medicare you read anywhere is designed as propaganda. Turn to this blog for straight Medicare info.

The Wyden article is a great piece for people who really want to understand the A/B/Cs of Medicare. I would only ask that Wyden go back and check his Oregon facts (he's from there). If Oregon is like the rest of the country (see lower right of chart below), it is likely that most of the 44% of current Oregon seniors he mentions that are not supplementing Medicare Parts A and B with Medicare Part C or Medigap are getting retiree insurance as a supplement. Almost no one in the country depends only on Medicare Parts A and B.

(Note: Chart is about 2007 and is from the 2010 MedPac Databook).

As I'm sure Senator Wyden knows, Medicare is terrible insurance with lifetime limits (no catastrophic coverage), up to $6000 a year in in-patient hospital deductibles if admitted, unlimited 20% copays if inpatient and only observed or if outpatient or visiting a doctor, no vision/dental/annual-physical/drug coverage, and geographic restrictions. Less than 10% of us seniors depend on it and as the senator also would know the Medicare bureaucracy has recruited over 25,000 volunteers around the United States to try to get those few remaining people to choose one of the supplemental options.

Basically we seniors today already have Wyden/Ryan but with incredible confusion and paperwork (see the Wyden story about the elderly couple with a box full of insurance policies). The Wyden/Rayn proposal to fix Medicare just simplifies the situation for our children and grandchildren.